Tomatoes from the Past

Tomatoes hiding in the 2017 Produce Garden

Right at the top of this photograph, you can see tomatoes growing among the potatoes, borage and weeds. These tomato plants are from seeds of fruit abandoned in 2014.

Here are the parent tomato plants in the Produce Garden in 2014:

2014 tomatoes protected by gravel in the Produce Garden

2014 tomatoes sitting in bare soil in the Produce Garden

In 2014, we planted twenty heritage tomato plants in several clumps in the Produce Garden across a wide expanse of bare soil. As 2014 was also a very dry year, we struggled to water consistently and eventually most plants perished, either by lack of water or because we broke the plants as a result of dragging the watering hoses across the Produce Garden.

The tomatoes just dried out in the garden.What we are seeing this year are the seeds that were dormant in 2015 and 2016. 

In 2015, we decided to create formal beds and paths, raising the beds in the Produce Garden specifically to retain moisture in the garden. The raised beds and lowered paths have helped to retain water; however, as you can read in our post regarding Small and Misshapen Potatoes, we still struggle to keep sufficient moisture in the beds.